RMS TitanicAN exhibition to mark the centenary of the sinking of the Titanic is currently on display in Castlebar Library.

The exhibition includes many photographs and illustrations of the ship from its building in Belfast to its sinking in the Atlantic.

It demonstrates the ship’s splendour, luxury and comfort and also its vulnerability and explores the reasons why it sank in the Atlantic on its maiden voyage.

A section of the exhibition is devoted to the fate of the fourteen people from Addergoole Parish who boarded the Titanic at Queenstown in Cork.

Photographs as well as reports from the local newspapers of the time are used to portray the impact of the tragedy in Mayo.

The exhibition will be on display during library hours until April 26.

Mayo Titanic Cultural Week

LOCAL history and heritage will play a strong focus point in the Mayo Titanic Cultural Week, running from April 8 to 15 in Lahardane.

Lahardane, known as Ireland’s Titanic Village, will commemorate the Addergoole Fourteen – the largest loss of   passengers from one parish - with a weeklong programme of events.

Former Uachtaránnah Éireann Mary Robinson will open the centenary ceremony on Easter Sunday, and a reenactment

of The Journey of the 14 members of the Lahardane group to Castlebar train station by pony and trap will transport   spectators back to the origins of their final journey.

On Tuesday, April 10, there will be a host of activities for visitors to enjoy, including a documentary, Waking the Titanic,  relaying the story of the Addergoole Fourteen, a display of artefacts and photography from 1912 and a student art exhibition all promising to capture the Titanic period with a local twist.

Other events include the Mayo Titanic Ball on Friday, April 13, in the Pontoon Bridge Hotel, and the bell tolling of Lahardane village on April 15, where Titanic enthusiasts will mark the exact timeline through a selection of poetry,

readings, songs and music involving local direct descendants of the Mayo victims.

The week’s commemoration will come to an end on Saturday, April 15, with the dedication of a Titanic Memorial Park to be officially opened by An Taoiseach Enda Kenny.

Later that evening guests are invited to visit Murphy’s Pub in Lahardane and take part in the local tradition of marking the night of the Titanic sinking.

At 11.20 p.m. guests will mark the exact time the liner hit the iceberg and at 2.20 a.m. a bell-ringing ceremony will take place symbolising the Titanic’s eventual sinking.

The night sky will then become a-glow as hundreds of paper lanterns are released into the sky to mark the occasion.